Best Point Cloud Processing Software for Linux of 2024

CloudCompare, an open-source software for 3D point clouds and triangular meshes, is a powerful tool to process 3D data. Originally developed to compare dense 3D point cloud, it has evolved into an all-in-one tool for 3D data processing. The software includes functionalities like projections, registrations (e.g. ICP), distance computations between clouds or meshes as well as statistical analysis, segmentation and geometric feature estimation. Users can manipulate multiple scalars per point cloud. They can also apply algorithms such as gradient evaluation and smoothing. Interactive tools allow segmentation, translation, rotation, and measurement of 3D objects. CloudCompare is compatible with Windows and macOS and supports a variety of input/output formats. The software features a plug-in mechanism to extend its capabilities.

Agisoft Metashape, a standalone software product, performs photogrammetric processing on digital images and generates 3D spatial information to be used in GIS, cultural heritage documentation, visual effects production, as well as indirect measurements of objects at various scales. Agisoft Cloud platform provides cloud processing services for Agisoft Metashape customers who have registered an Agisoft Account. It allows you to send any project to the cloud for processing and, thus, to reduce investment in hardware infrastructure for a photogrammetric pipe. Other features include online visualization of processing results, sharing processing results option, embedding code generator tool to integrate your models into any website, and embedding codes generation tool. The service is available under a subscription model for storage space. Processing hours are charged on a per-minute basis.

AWS Thinkbox is a standalone application that can be used for point cloud processing, meshing and meshing on Windows, Linux and macOS. It accepts point clouds and mesh data in a variety of industry-standard formats. Point cloud data is converted into a compact, fast-accessible intermediate cache format. Sequoia uses intelligent workflows that retain high-precision information efficiently. It displays all or a portion of the point clouds using adaptive views-dependent methods. Users can transform, cull and modify point cloud information, generate meshes out of point clouds, and optimize those meshes. The software allows users to project images onto meshes and points, and generate mesh vertex colors or UV-based texture from point cloud colors. It exports the resulting meshes into industry-standard mesh files and integrates with Thinkbox Deadline for point cloud data conversion and meshing on network nodes.

Open source software for editing and processing 3D triangular meshes. It includes tools for editing, cleaning and healing, inspecting, inspecting, inspecting, rendering texturing, texturing, and converting meshes. It can process raw data from 3D digitization devices/tools, and prepare models for 3D printing. This version supports several file formats (.gltf.glb.nxs.nxz.e57) as well as a plugin for exact meshbooleans. The 3D data alignment phase, also known as registration, is an essential step in the process of processing 3D scanned data. MeshLab is a powerful tool that allows you to move the different meshes into one common reference system. It can also manage large range-maps. MeshLab uses a fine-tuned ICP one-to-1 alignment step, followed with a global bundle adjustment error distribution step. The alignment can be done on point clouds and meshes from multiple sources, including active scanners (both short-range and long-range).